After a 5 year struggle with anorexia (with purging tendencies), depression, self harm and over exercising I have now been recovered for 4 years and i use my blog to help others in the same situation i once was.
I am now a happy and positive person who wants to inspire those struggling to choose recovery and to take control over life and happiness again!

Life without Anorexia

My motto is 'Dont let the sadness of your past & the fear of your future ruin the happiness of your present'

My life at the moment is completely different to how it once was. I spent 5 years sick with anorexia nervosia and depression as well as struggling with self harm and overexercising. I spent 2 years in different treatment centres.

And since 2012 i have been declared healthy from my eating disorder.

I have been blogging for 7 years, and my whole journey is written in my posts. I now represent healthy and happiness. I want to show anyone struggling that it is possible to recover, no matter how hard it may seem.

I now blog about recovery, my life, veganism and positivity!

If you have any questions leave them in the comment section as i am much quicker at answering there, otherwise you can always send an email: lifewithoutanorexia@hotmail.com

Translate

Monday, January 23, 2017

How to cope with evening anxiety

I got asked about how to cope with eating during the evenings when you have more anxiety than during the day. Below is an article about anxiety during the evenings - why and what you can do about it.

However when it comes to eating when you have the most anxiety, then it is important to be extra strong. Maybe have someone with you during the evenings if you know that that is when you struggle the most. Have reminders around your apartment, or even alarms on your phone reminding you to eat. Also preparing your food for the evening so its just to take it out and eat, even if you feel you dont want to can be helpful. But most important, fight the anxiety. Know that your body needs the food, that you are doing a good thing even if it may not feel like it. You are giving your body energy and nourishment which it needs.

It can help to maybe read, watch a film or series or sit and talk to someone during and after your meals if that is where you struggle the most. But also have some where comfortable to sit or lie down during the evenings if you find it hard to be still or get very restless. Let your body relax and rest and feed your body the energy it needs.

Take deep breaths, have a mantra or motto you can repeat to help cope. Know that it will get easier, but you have to go through the tough times and get stronger!!!

Anxiety that gets worse in the evenings is interesting, because there isn't necessarily a medical reason for it. There are, however, several potential reasons that someone may experience nighttime or evening anxiety – anxiety that makes your anxiety disorders worse.

The causes of evening anxiety are somewhat unclear, in that there isn't anything about anxiety that should increase in the evenings. That means that each person suffering from evening anxiety likely has their own specific reason. Possibilities include:

Post-Work Stress – Many people experience considerable anxiety after work, because of the way their work caused them significant stress. When you're feeling stressed at work for a considerable amount of time and go home to your own thoughts, it's not uncommon for that tension to grow, leading to further late night anxiety.

Morning Distractions – Throughout the morning and afternoon, you're very busy. Distractions are actually an important tool for relieving anxiety. So those that are busy at work or busy in the mornings will be less likely to be able to focus on their stresses. But once all of that is over and the distractions are gone, anxiety has a tendency to bubble up to the surface.

Sleep Therapy – Sleep is its own natural form of therapy, and anxiety is a cumulative condition. So it's possible that every time you sleep your anxiety dissipates, and then over time as you go throughout your day it builds itself back until you sleep again.

Restless Leg Syndrome – Restless leg syndrome is a condition that starts in the evenings and can lead to pain an discomfort in the legs. It may make it harder to sleep and cause anxiety symptoms whenever it starts to occur.

Late Night Associations – For many, anxiety becomes associated with events. For example, if you often fight in bed with your spouse, then going to bed will create more anxiety even if you're not fighting. It's possible that you have had several arguments or problems around dinner time or later, and so when you start to approach that time your body becomes anxious in anticipation.

Physical Responses – Some people find that they are more prone to hyperventilation in the evenings, as well as experiencing more aches and pains and fatigue. Those with anxiety attacks may react to these feelings with greater levels of anxiety. Since each person has their own triggers, those with evening anxiety may have more night triggers.

This list is only preliminary. It's possible that some people are more prone to biological responses as well. Brain chemistry changes based on energy levels, time of day, diet, and other factors that may differ at night compared to during the day.

Also, some people become their own mental enemy in the evening. As soon as you start to wonder whether or not you're more prone to evening anxiety, you're also setting yourself up to anticipate evening anxiety. As strange as it sounds, the very realization that you have evening anxiety may make evening anxiety more likely.

The most likely reason is simply the lack of distractions. Anxiety has a tendency of taking over when we're lost in our own thoughts, and unfortunately most people have little to think about at night that prevents them from focusing on their anxiety. But again, it may be any combination of causes.

How to Prevent Evening Anxiety

There are some very simple ways to reduce evening anxiety, at least comparatively. Overall, the only way to guarantee that you don't get anxiety in the evenings is to cure your anxiety altogether. But in the absence of that option, there are strategies that can help you break the cycle of anxiety at night. These include:

Staying Busy – The first thing you need to do is try to stay busy. No matter how tired you are from work, make sure that you've planned several things to do once you're off work that you enjoy. This will reduce the time spent moping or lost in your own head, which is important for reducing anxiety.

Post Work Exercise – You should also make sure that you're physically active. One of the best short term anxiety cures is aerobic exercise. If you can get yourself exercising right before or while your anxiety hits, you'll find that your anxiety symptoms decrease and your ability to cope with the stress improves.

Creating a Boring Routine – If staying busy and exercising isn't something you can do, a boring routine may help. Routines are all about comfort. As long as your routine involves doing something, you'll find that the act of knowing exactly what you're doing at all times can be very calming to the mind and body.

Goal Setting – You should also consider giving yourself goals – goals that you can work on every night. This relates to staying busy, of course, but they also ensure that each night is spent focusing on the future, not just the present. Even if one of those goals is to finish a jigsaw puzzle, as long as you're working on it you'll improve your ability to cope with anxiety.

Self-Awareness – Finally, make sure that you're aware of your anxiety more. The more in-tune you are to the way you feel, the more you can break the anxiety cycle. When you start feeling anxiety at night, don't try to fight it. Acknowledge it to yourself, try to see what you're doing when it comes up, and then try to treat it. Fighting anxiety makes anxiety worse. But accepting it and solving it anyway can make it much better.

1 comment:

Strangely, when I had depression my anxiety was at its worse first thing in the mornings and also again in the evening. The evening anxiety I knew was because I was fearful of the coming next day, not knowing what sort of day I was going to have and whether it was going to be a bad one.But it passes. Know that if you suffer anxiety it won`t last for ever and you will get to the point where it doesn't happen any more. I found distraction to be absolutely essential in getting through it - so make yourself busy and not have time to dwell on the thoughts that are giving you anxiety.

Follow this blog with bloglovin

About Me

Hello :)
I have had Anorexia and depression for c.a 5 years and been in and out of hospital for 2 years. But now im living my life like a normal teenager, I still have my ups and downs now and again, but i still stay positive and never give up.
In my blog i write about my daily life, and my opinions and views on certain things and i bring up topics and information that i think needs to be passed on!!
Leave a comment - love reading comments from people :)
If anyone wants to get in contact with me.
Mail me here --> lifewithoutanorexia@hotmail.com